Nightmares Prompt (Rash Actions)
by Selene Illusinia
Summary: Ward gets a proverbial fire lit under his bum, by his own subconscious. His own evil, evil subconscious. Warning: contains (but is not) Skyeson.


_**So after last nights...explosion, I decided to finally get around to posting a piece I put up on tumblr ages ago. It's humor though I will warn you were are references to Skyeson. It isn't Skyeson though, I promise. Everything is done in the name of humor and just a touch of adorable sweetness.**_**_So for all the Skyeward shippers out there who are still alive, enjoy!_**

_**Illusinia**_

* * *

This was it. He was going to finally going to do it, and nothing was going to stop him.

Sitting in the lounge, Ward ran through everything he was going to say as he stared at the book in his hands. It was a copy of the magazine (no, what was it again? And e-something? E-magazine maybe?) _Phrack_. Specifically, it's the one that published the (from what Ward can tell) infamous article known as the Hacker's Manifesto. What he'd gone through to get it, he didn't want to think about. But he'd done it, all in an attempt to understand her better. It hadn't really helped but, hey, he'd tried? That had to count for something and maybe she'd be able to explain it better. He wouldn't mind if she tried.

Just the thought of Skye leaning over a table while explaining why hackers did what they did had Ward gulping a bit. It was really, really hard not to flash back on her first time on the bus; the one where she'd interrogated him. He still saw the way her shirt gaped and her necklaces fell down her shirt when he closed his eyes. It was a hard image to dismiss, especially because he allowed himself to remember that moment on occasion and everything he'd wanted to do to Skye as she'd been interrogating him. Thing's he'd forced away because she's his rookie.

But after Lorelei forced his desires to the surface, after Skye nearly died, he couldn't wait anymore. Couldn't just play it safe. He needed to tell her how he felt, how much he loved her and wanted her. Sadly, words aren't his thing, actions are. So he'd show her that he cares and wants more by proving he wants to learn more about why she does what she does.

Hearing the soft sound of her footsteps on the stairs from the gym, Ward focused on the entrance into the lounge where Skye should be coming through. Sure enough, seconds later, she came stumbling into the room looking exhausted. Her workout must have been more intense than he'd thought; she was sweating and her hair was sticking to her face and skin everywhere. It brought some very dirty thoughts to mind and Ward had to work hard to keep his brain out of the gutter long enough to speak with Skye.

"Skye," acknowledged Ward with a smile. Or, well, what passed as a smile for him. It was probably more of a smirk (everyone said he didn't smile so much as smirk in a non-judgmental way), but he was trying damnit.

"Robot," returned Skye, still panting. Her cheeks were turning red, too. It almost looked like she was blushing and it stirred something strong in Ward's stomach. He really, really hoped she'd give them a chance to get closer. It was a chance he wanted more than anything at this point; she was driving him crazy. Every little thing seemed to make him want to draw her against him and just cradle her close.

Shifting a little in his seat, Ward offered the magazine to Skye. "I, um, wanted to give this to you."

"What is it?" asked Skye, even as she took the magazine. One of her eyebrows shot up in surprise, and her gaze lifted to his almost immediately. "Ward, why are you giving me a physical copy of an e-zine? Why do you even have a physical copy of this? It's like...a hacker staple and no one reads physical copies of this."

"I know," confirmed Ward standing with a deep breath. It was taking a lot of effort to keep his nerves from showing. "I don't like to read on a screen and I was trying to learn more about why you," he spun his hand a bit as he spoke, "do what you do."

Skye's confusion was palpable. "Okay Robot, you're gonna have to explain that one because I couldn't even begin to follow that logic."

Internally groaning, Ward tried to think of a way to explain this one. Words definitely weren't his thing. "I wanted to know why you do, you know, what you do."

Skye's eyebrow rose in a clear 'you know you aren't making sense, right?' look. "Why I do what? There's a lot of stuff I do and I'm betting you don't get why I do most of it. I don't even know why I do some of it."

"Then why do it?" asked Ward, becoming momentarily sidetracked by the idea of Skye doing things she doesn't even understand.

"Because it's fun?" tried Skye with a shrug, her eyes dropping back to the e-zine. Making a face, she glanced up at him again and waved it around a little. "I'm gonna guess this has to do with my hacking."

"Well, yeah," confirmed Ward, shifting a little as he rocked back on his heels slightly. "It's not- I don't get why you do it, so I kinda started researching hacking online. And everyone said that article would explain it all, so..."

"So you got a physical copy," chuckled Skye, shaking her head a bit. "Why so interested in us 'pseudo-anarchist hacker types' all of a sudden?"

He shifted a bit as she threw his words back at him. Of course she'd remember that he called her that; he hadn't exactly been nice about it. Well, now was definitely the time to tell her. It was the perfect opening. "I'm interested because I want to know more about you. About why you became a hacker and how you got involved in the Rising Tide."

"Uh-huh," clicked Skye a little. "A you're suddenly interested because..."

Ward gulped, taking a deep breath. Now or never. "Because, I wanted to ask you-"

"Skye?" Coulson's words cut through the room seconds before he entered from the gym, cutting off Ward's own sentence. He was dressed for training, his clothing and hair looking almost as disheveled as Skye's. Their leader's eyes fell on Skye almost immediately, causing the red flush from earlier to return full force. "Sorry to interrupt. You left something in the gym."

"What'd I leave?" asked Skye curiously, tilting her head as Ward's gifts were idly set on a table and forgotten. Ward would have felt hurt, except he was too interested in the exchange between Coulson and Skye to notice beyond a glance.

Coulson glanced a Ward a little before holding out his closed hand to Skye, stepping close and leaning over to whisper something in her ear. The blush that spread over her cheeks along with the flash of a scrap of pink lace moving from Coulson's hand to her's made his stomach drop. No, no way.

"You're...together?" choked Ward, his mind too shocked for him to manage to keep the words as internal dialogue. No. No way in hell, it wasn't possible. Skye and Coulson? Their SO? He'd always assumed the older man was getting together with May on the side. Or someone, anyone but Skye.

His stomach twisted as dropped further as both people looked at each other before Coulson wrapped his arm around Skye's waist and drew her close. "I guess the cat's out of the bag."

"Yeah," sighed Skye, shaking her head a bit. "I kinda wanted to keep it quite for a bit. I mean, it's gonna be crazy enough when we announce the whole engagement..."

Ward's brain cut out after that, leaving him with the sensation of floating in a void. Engagement? They were getting married? His stomach twisted harder and turned to ice. Idly, he sputtered to try to say something, anything that would help. But no words came out and both Skye and Coulson didn't appear to be paying attention anyway. Not with the way Coulson suddenly swept down and kissed her. It made Ward's world spin, blackening on the edges as he felt himself passing out.

Shooting up in bed, Ward just barely kept from letting out a shout as he sat, panting among his tangled bed sheets. A nightmare, it was all a nightmare. Oh thank god. Skye wasn't dating Coulson, they weren't going to get married and it had all been some twisted dream. That didn't stop him from nearly bolting out of his bed though. Nor did it stop him from shoving his legs into the first pair of sweat-pants he could find and racing out of the room.

Darting down the hall, he nearly fell as he slid to a stop in front of Skye's door and began knocking furiously. After what felt like an eternity of waiting though, the door suddenly flew open and it was only Ward's quick reflexes that kept him from knocking on Skye's skull instead of her door.

"Skye." The word was tinged with rushed relief and a glance inside confirmed she was alone too. No Phil Coulson peeking out from her covers- just some stuffed animal who's identity he couldn't even recognize anymore.

"Ward, what the hell?" snapped Skye. "It's 2 am and I know I said my shoulder was always available, but I'd really rather it be between the hours of 8 and 7. You know, normal waking hours. Not robot hours."

"Skye." Why was he repeating her name? He needed to repeat more than her name. "Skye." Okay, this was getting him nowhere. More words needed.

"Yeah, that's my name," confirmed Skye sarcastically. "And you're Ward. And you're banging on my door at 2 am for no reason that I can see unless it's some kind of a gender crisis."

Wait, what?

"Huh?" choked out Ward, raising a confused eyebrow at her as his brain started to come back online. "Gender crisis?"

Skye nodded, cocking her eyebrow as she leaned on her open doorway. "That's the only reason I can think of that you'd be wearing pink sweat-pants. Though the no shirt thing is a nice touch."

Pink sweatpants...glancing down, Ward swore as he realized, yes, he was wearing pink sweatpants. Specifically they were the formerly gray sweatpants that had been left in a washer and ruined when Simmons threw in a load of dark red and pink shirts. Damnit, he'd set them aside to throw out. "Uh, no, no gender crisis. Laundry error."

"Ah, I was wondering about the SHIELD logo," admitted Skye, glancing again down at his pants for a moment before meeting Ward's eyes again. "Pink doesn't seem like their color."

"It's not," confirmed Ward, shaking his head as his thoughts finally fell into place. "Skye, are you dating Coulson?" Well, sort of fell into place...okay, maybe his brain was just completely offline. Could anyone really blame him?!

"I'm sorry, what?" choked Skye. It was impossible to tell if she was joking in laughter or horror. "Uh, no, definitely no. Coulson is hot in that cut older-dude way but he's so not my type."

"Thank god," muttered Ward, finally allowing himself to collapse back against the wall across from her door. Wait, there was something else he wanted to say...

"Okay, is there a reason you thought I was dating him?" tried Skye, her look shifting to a 'do I need to get Simmons to sedate you?' one.

"Nightmare, not important," dismissed Ward rapidly. The actual reason for his mad run to her door was coming back to him. "Skye, can we have dinner?"

"Now?" questioned Skye, the look on her face shifting towards 'I'm going to get Coulson now' look and that's the last thing Ward wanted. He wouldn't be able to look at Coulson right now without punching him, even if it all was a dream.

"No, tomorrow," he assured, gulping a bit. "I mean, not _tomorrow_ necessarily, but soon. As a date. Er, I mean-"

Skye's hand landed over Ward's mouth, silencing him as she began chuckle to the point where she was nearly shaking. "I get it, Robot. Relax." Smiling brightly like she'd just heard the best news of the day, she nodded once. "I think we can pull that off. But we're talking about this tomorrow when we're both awake and you've got your filter back in place. As funny as this is, I can't deal with this without coffee."

"Whe cood ma cofee," suggested Ward, his voice muffled by her hand.

Raising an eyebrow at him again, she dropped her hand. "Wanna try that again?"

"I said: we could make coffee," suggested Ward, rubbing the back of his neck a bit nervously as he realized how weird that sounded. It was the middle of the night, why would she agree to make coffee with him? "I'm probably not sleeping again soon anyway."

"It was that bad of a nightmare?" questioned Skye curiously, even as she grabbed a sweat shirt from inside her room and stepped out.

"You kissing Coulson was an image I didn't know my brain could produce," admitted Ward with a shrug and shutter.

Another laugh came from Skye as she looped her arm through his. "Get me some coffee and we can see about erasing that image from your brain."


End file.
